The invention relates generally to herbicides, methods of improving existing herbicides and controlling the growth of plant life and more particularly to methods and products involving succinate-based chemicals and other additives which can enhance the activity (effectiveness) of herbicidal compounds. As used herein, herbicidal refers to materials which destroy or inhibit plant growth, such as by desiccation or defoliation, for example, to act as a harvest aid or to control weed growth.
Glyphosate and paraquat are the number 1 and 2 non-selective herbicides used worldwide. Paraquat is extremely toxic and therefore unacceptable for many applications. Glyphosate can be slow acting, commonly requiring 1 to 2 weeks to achieve plant death and is therefore also unsuitable for many herbicide applications.
Other conventionally known herbicides include fatty acids, such as pelargonic acid, a nine carbon fatty acid, and caprylic acid, an eight carbon fatty acid. Scythe, sold by Mycogen/Dow and Liberty, made by AgrEvo are known commercially available herbicides. Pelargonic acid is the active ingredient in SCYTHE and glufosinate-ammonium is the active ingredient in LIBERTY. However, the activity of these products is such that the cost of products such as SCYTHE can be undesirably high and the amount of active ingredients needed in products such as paraquat could lead to undesirable effects.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved herbicides, methods for enhancing the activity of existing herbicides and methods of controlling plant growth in order to overcome inadequacies of the prior art
Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, improved herbicide compositions, methods of making the compositions and methods of controlling plant growth are provided. The subject invention relates to combining fatty acid based and other herbicides with succinic acid, succinic acid derivatives and other additives such as those having essentially no herbicidal activity to increase the activity of the herbicide and provide methods of controlling plant growth by applying a combination of a herbicidal fatty acid with succinic acid and/or succinic acid derivative chemicals and/or other additives. In addition to the use of succinic acid, combining other Krebs cycle acids with herbicides can also provide beneficial effects. Concentrations of herbicides and additives applied to plants in accordance with the invention can include compositions involving about 0.1 to 30% herbicide and additive, preferably 0.5 to 15% herbicide and additive and more preferably 1-8% herbicide and additive. The ratio of herbicide, such as fatty acid herbicide to activity enhancing additive can be from about 1:10 to 20:1, preferably 1:1 to 20:1, more preferably 1:1 to 5:1.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide improved herbicidal compositions.
Another object of the invention is to provide additives which can enhance the activity of herbicidal compositions.
Yet another object of the invention is to improve the safety of herbicides.
A further object of the invention is to provide improved methods of plant control.
The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the compositions possessing the characteristics, properties and the relation of constituents useful to effect such steps, which will be exemplified in the compositions hereinafter described, all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.